The break-up may have been mutual between Indian mining giant Adani and London-based bank Standard Chartered, but there's no shortage of third parties proudly claiming responsibility.
The bank's financial advisory role in the proposed $16.5 billion Carmichael mine in central Queensland has ended less than a week after the curtain also fell on the Commonwealth Bank's involvement.
The announcement also followed the Federal Court's order to set aside the mine's approval due to a legal loophole in the decision of Environment Minister Greg Hunt.
Standard Chartered announced both parties agreed to sever ties, further placing in doubt the future of what would be Australia's biggest coal mine.
The company had engaged with a range of stakeholders before participating further in the project and assessed the competing demands of the energy sector, a spokesman said.
"Coal will certainly remain a fixture of power generation for the next few years until advances in technology improve renewable and sustainable sources of energy," he said.
Traditional owners the Wangan and Jagalingou people met with the bank in London in June, urging it not to back the project.
"We informed Standard Chartered that we do not consent to the development of Carmichael on our sacred ancestral lands," spokesman Adrian Burragubba said, congratulating the company on the decision.
An Adani spokesman said the move was made "on the basis of Adani's own concerns over ongoing delays to a now five-year-long approvals process in Australia".
The mining giant left the door open to rekindling the relationship in the future if Australia's federal approvals framework isn't "further undermined by activists seeking to exploit legal loopholes".
Conservationists, who Adani has accused of jeopardising thousands of jobs and billions of investment dollars, collectively rejoiced over the news.
"This controversial project is now a massive reputational risk for even the world's most powerful banks," Greenpeace campaigner Nikola Casule said, attributing the split to a concerted international campaign against the plans.
GetUp spokesman Sam Regester called on the other three major Australian banks, NAB, Westpac and ANZ, to follow suit.
The proposed mine would export coal from the resources-rich Galilee Basin to India from the Abbot Point terminal, north of Bowen.
Conservationists have staunchly opposed the plan, citing the impact on the world's climate and threatened species.
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